Why Can't This Reality Be Fantasy?
by headaches4ever
Summary: Naruto is alone... 6 years after Sasuke left he is the most powerful ninja in the country, and the lonliest. Who will be there to save Naruto when no one will even talk to him?
1. The Cold Basis

Naruto put the cigarette to his mouth, pulling out a lighter as he cupped the other hand around the end of the unlit end. He snapped the lighter three or four times before it caught.

The sparks lit up his face then turned to a steady glow, illuminating his rough face.

He felt the warmth from the fire as the cigarette held the flame for a fleeting moment. The embers glowed bright as he took the first drag. He held his breath for a few seconds, then blew the smoke out of his nose. Naruto's face was shrouded in the opaque mist.

He closed his eyes and inhaled again. Naruto took the cigarette from his mouth and let it rest between his fingers. He sighed.

The moon reflected off his pale skin and light hair. The wind blew, pulling at his shirt, threatening to extinguish the precious cigarette.

Putting it back into his mouth, he looked over the city from the roof of his fourth story apartment. It was dark. And cold. He shivered. He gazed at the different values of purple, blue and black that defined the city this night. Naruto could see houses, a few lights still on, see the forest, and the large crescent moon that was lighting up this city, his personal hell.

He quickly finished the smoke, threw the butt off the edge and stole back into his house through his window. The lights were off, giving it the same lonely, empty feeling that the entirety of the city did. But he liked it. The dark felt safe... Maybe Sasuke had rubbed off on him.

The young man turned on the lights to cook himself dinner. The dim light presented a nineteen year old with blonde hair. His facial features were prominent and attractive, but displayed no emotion. We wore the Anbu uniform, the hard porcelain mask hung from his neck and rested upon his broad back. It was designed in the likeness of a fox. How cliché.

He kicked off his shoes, pulled off his socks. He untied the bright red string that tied his mask to him and tossed it on his bed. He un-strapped the white protective armor that covered his chest and back, and shucked off the ones banded to his sinuous forearms.

Naruto was left with a sleeveless spandex shirt and tight cotton pants. He pulled on a pair of black sweats over the cotton pants. He habitually ruffled his hair, trying to calm the static and slapdash characteristics that made it stick up in all directions.

He was hungry. He hadn't eaten since morning, and even then all he'd eaten was a meek rabbit he caught in the woods.

Naruto had been returning from Sound, another absurdly pointless stake out mission for Orochimaru. It was blatant that the Konoha government didn't give a rats ass about the snake, all they wanted was the Uchiha. Just because he was assigned the missions didn't mean that Naruto had to care. And he didn't. If Sasuke wanted to come back, he would've. He wasn't a god, just an angst-ridden adolescent who only cared about self advancement.

Naruto had such a pessimistic view of his former friend because of many lonely years and many wounds. When Sasuke had left, Naruto fought as hard as he could to retrieve him, then he fought even harder to survive. In all honesty, he had nothing to live for once Sasuke was gone.

Naruto had done everything to handle it. Once Sasuke was gone no one respected Naruto, even Kakashi and Sakura became distant, no matter how hard Naruto held on to the weak strings that bound them together. In the end they were severed just as badly as the twine that had held Sasuke to him.

He took up smoking to calm his nerves about his worthlessness. He became powerful.

Naruto found that if he taxed himself physically and mentally, everything hurt less. The pain subsided when he drove himself, when he was under strain.

In the 6 years since Sasuke had left, Naruto had become the best ninja in anbu and the most feared in the city. He was so close to Itachi's previous records in everything. Strength, efficiency, successful missions, and with the exception of the Uchiha clan, Naruto had even met his records for killings.

This supremacy changed nothing, in fact, it even encouraged people to keep their distance. He occasionally chatted with Shikamaru, the number two ninja, but it wasn't the same. He had lost all the enthusiasm and determination that made him Naruto. Yes, he still had determination, but this was different, this determination was driven by sadistic thoughts. Fueled by nightmares and horrors that populated the young ninja's mind.

Naruto was just blank.

And it all started with Sasuke.

It left a wretched taste in his mouth. How hard he had tried to save Sasuke, and all that effort was met with pure hate. Naruto understood this now. Sasuke didn't care for him the way he cared for his own self. Sasuke's number one priority was himself. On Naruto's ranking, Sasuke had been number one, and Naruto himself had been around number ten. All those people he cared for, Sakura, Kakashi, Gaara, Lee, and everyone had preceded himself. Now the standings were empty. Naruto didn't care who lived or who died, He didn't even care about himself. It was terrible but comforting.

He ate his ramen alone like always, went to the bathroom and took a scalding hot shower. The heated water felt good. He ran the shower until the water heater ran out and it turned cold.

He was tainted. Solitary in every aspect.

He dried himself off and used the towel to smear the fogged mirror. Naruto looked at himself. The six 'scratch marks' on his cheeks were darker in hue from the shower. His blue eyes narrowed.

"Heh." He smirked.

If only Sasuke could see him now. Powerful. Even more powerful than Itatchi. Menacing. A true beast. Was Sasuke this strong? Could he have stopped Sasuke if he had been this strong six years ago? How would Sasuke have responded if Naruto told him that he meant something? Was Sasuke happy?  
That didn't matter. Those thoughts were stupid. Sasuke was stupid. It was all very, very stupid.

These were the thoughts that haunted him day after day, what made him strive daily, what made him lose his temper in random fits of uncontrollable rage. What made him throw things across his apartment. What drove him to rip his pillow to pieces. That forced him to throw the lamp at the wall. And when Naruto was on his knees, rocking forward and back, moaning and yelling, he was thinking these thoughts. Cruel thoughts that made him into the monster that he was so frequently referred to as.

These thoughts made him tired and lonely. 


	2. Jouney

It hit Naruto hard when he picked up his next mission from the Hokage the following week.

He glanced up from the blank paper to give a questioning look to Tsunade.

"Sand?"

Tsunade gave a sigh and rolled her eyes, as if Naruto should know already.

"Well, the someone within the council started a rumor that you were fixating..."

"Fixating?" He looked back to the assignment, "On what?"

"Lately the majority of your missions have been to Sound... Stakeouts, infiltrations, you know, the like."

"So?" Naruto think he knew what she was hinting at, "You think that I have been intentionally manipulating the system so that I could get those missions?"

"That's what they think." She said tersely.

"And you realize that you have been the one giving me all the missions in Sound, right you old broad?"

"Don't get snippy." She sounded indifferent, "I know that. It was careless of me to focus you on those missions. The only reason I even assign you to those is because how productive you seem to be."

Naruto honestly didn't care. He was done with this. So what if the council thought he still had emotional difficulties with Sasuke. That was there problem not his.

"Whatever. I'll go pack."

She watched as he turned and exited her office, slamming the door behind him.

Naruto re-read the mission as he walked through the poorly lit halls of the building. It was simple. The task was way under the skill that was usually required of anbu. It was actually odd how easy this mission would be.

The paper said that he was to report to Sand within three days. When there he was supposed to aid the strategists in creating a spy network, infiltration system within Sound. It was ridiculous, he was indirectly doing the same job he always did.

"Sneaky bitch." he murmured as he pocketed the slip.

Naruto figured that it would take about two days to actually get to the border and another half day to get to the city. Naruto fumed to himself about the trip, he would have to be going pretty damn quick to even make that kind of time. Three days my ass.

If he left that night it might be doable, so Naruto quickly packed toiletries and clothing into a small pack. He didn't want to travel in his uniform, he put it in his bag as well.

He pulled on a gray t-shirt and some shorts, put on his shoes, he left the apartment hoping, but not really caring that he hadn't forgotten anything. Whatever he needed he could buy in Sand.

As he left the city he briefly spoke with Shikamaru who was guarding the gate.

"Sound again?"

"No, actually."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and leaned against a wall. "Really?"

"Yeah, weird right?"

"Wanna trade?"

"Nah, guarding the gate is fucking boring."

"You're tellin' me." He sighed and looked at the clouds, "have fun man."

Naruto began to plod away, "You know it." He waved without looking back.

As soon as he hit the forest Naruto began running. He ran hard, feet barely making any sound as they kicked up dust on the trail. After six or seven miles he was gasping for air. At this point he took out his water, drank a few gulps, sat down and hunched his shoulders.

He vomited.

Naruto sat gasping for a moment after and wiped his mouth and took another swig. He wretched up the last of his meals over the next two minutes. When he was done, the blonde stood up and let the afternoon sun hit his clammy, wet face.

He wasn't sick from the run. Usually he could run ten miles without stopping, and without ever beings sick. Something else was bothering him.

He began walking again.

"Walk it off..." He said motivationally to himself.

He hadn't been to Sand in forever. He wasn't sure if he was anxious or not. He did know one thing. He had to try to avoid Gaara.

He needed to.

Gaara had not seen this hopeless pathetic Naruto. All Gaara had ever seen was the joyful intact fox boy, and Naruto knew he could not keep up a facade the entire time he was there just because the Kazekage hadn't known what Naruto had become.

No, that was absurd. Naruto wasn't going to avoid Gaara because he didn't have a pair.

I won't let this bother me, he thought. Who cares? What'll it matter to Gaara if this is how I am? He's probably just like Sasuke... He'll rip me apart.

And I can't let that happen again.

Naruto mulled all this over in his head for hours, sometimes running or walking, but taking no notice of anything, trying to find some solution to the problem that made him think in repetitive circles.

Soon it was dark and there wasn't much light to travel by. This made no difference to Naruto. He figured he wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, so he climbed a tree and began passing miles that way.

Occasionally some animal would make a noise that would startle him, but he just kept going, exhaustion setting in.

Naruto tripped.

His weight flung him into a branch, knocking the wind out of himself. He didn't have time to recover, he was already falling the twenty feet to the forest floor. More and more branches stabbed at him, ripping his clothes and tearing him up. At least they broke the fall.

Naruto landed with a reverberating 'thud'. He had fallen on his back, so it had whipped his head back then forward; pulling the muscles in his neck and shoulders.

Groan. He tried to catch his breath, he was hyperventilating. Rolling over on the ground of needles, leaves, and pinecones, he curled up and coughed.

"Heal that, Fox..." He said scornfully, seeing that his leg was twisted and bleeding profusely. 

The young man passed out from lack of sleep. 


	3. Visitor

A tall individual stood above the incapacitated one. He looked down at the carnage. The one upright was pale in comparison to the one lying in the dirt. His white kimono was about the same shade as his skin, or so it appeared in the dark of night. The rest of him was black, blending in with the forest.

The figure gave a cursory evaluation of the fainted one. He saw all the scrapes and the huge gash in his leg already beginning to close up and heal. He watched his face, contorted in pain. From the fall? It had looked painful.

A breeze rustled the leaves of the trees all around them, tugging at the blonde hair, as well as the black hair of the figure looming over.

A few grunts and snores came from the sleeper. Normal sleep noises. After a few minutes of silence, the mumblings began again. The young man rolled over on the cold ground; resting on his back. The figure was intrigued. More mumblings, then,  
amongst the murmurs a very clear:

"Sasuke."

And the figure was gone. 


	4. Journey pt 2

When Naruto woke up he was barely sore. He blinked his eyes a few times, getting used to the blaring sun overhead. He barely had time to be amused by how well he had healed. Last night he had broken his leg in at least 2 different places, one fracture had even broken the skin, which was why he had been bleeding. His back also had to have been broken. That, and all the huge lacerations from hitting about one hundred branches on the way down.

No one falls from three stories' height and lives.

Well almost no one.

Naruto looked up through the trees, squinting against the bright noonday sun.

"Oh Shit!" Naruto cursed as he launched himself up, losing balance and grapping onto a tree.

The sun was overhead.

"Shit, shit, dammit, shit, shit..." He hopped over a few bushes to get back to the path, then he started running. He didn't have much time left to get to Sand.

No wonder he healed so well, he had been sleeping for more than a day. Naruto was a little stiff, but whether it was from lack of use or that they were still recovering, he didn't care. All he cared about right now was getting to his destination. Fast.

After an hour and ten miles Naruto's leg began to ache. Every once and a while it would seize up and he would fall onto his face.

He cringed as the dirt and twigs dug into his face. The ninja grunted as he quickly placed his skinned palms under him and lifted. On his feet again, he took off.  
This would happen every twenty or so minutes, meaning that each time he had just about enough time to heal all of the scrapes and burns until he again fell and recreated them.

It was pissing him off.

"Heal, dammit, heal." Naruto knew cussing out his inner demon would not make the process go faster. Actually, the imprisoned fox was probably taken his sweet time curing him just because of the amount of obscenities that were being thrown his way.

Naruto was slipping. His eyes began to droop while he jogged. He needed to make to the end of the forest before he could stop.

At least he was getting closer. The salt filled his lungs as it became harder to inhale. The sand was not far off.

"RRAAGH!" This was his last thought as he pushed through the last brush and trees, and fell for the last time into the warm sand.

The sun set, turning the blonde's hair a fiery shade of orange. Naruto slept as the sun dipped below the desert, and the sky became dark blue.

The dark haired young man stood within the cover of the bushes while the pink sunlit sky faded. He stared again at the other ninja.

As he stepped away from the forest, the moon revealed more than the fragmented patches of muted light that the forest had provided the night before. The mysterious stranger had bold features. His eyes were blacker than the night surrounding him. He was just as muscular as the blonde, and probably about as tall. Just a lot skinnier. He was not gaunt or emaciated, he just looked a little frail compared to the brawn that the one on the ground had.

Tonight he felt a little bit more daring, and a bit more curious.

After tailing the ninja from Konoha for two days, he felt that he had a better understanding of how the blonde would act or react. The previous night he might have awoken, the pain probably keeping Naruto in an easily awakened state, nothing more than a reverie.

His feet sunk into the soft sand as he paced towards the fallen. As he knelt a foot or so away, he reached a thin arm to Naruto, slowly. The sleeping one was non-responsive. The stranger's hand was hovering an inch or so away from the blonde's face.

His eyes turned angry and he clenched his hand and pulled it away. 

He stoop up and nudged the sleeper with his foot.

Nothing.

He kicked him lightly. Which was still pretty hard.

Grunt. "nn."

He turned and ran back into the woods. 

Hi. Thanks reviewers. Um. this is totally for asagoro. Oh. If you guys see any spell things my comp missed let me know. I am still editing the last horrific mistakes. I plan to post new re-vamped (Spelled right) chaps of the others. I agree with the reviewer that commented on cliché and cutters.  
Oh and asagoro- definition of angst- anxiety, or excitement for events that are going to take place, usually philosophical things. 


	5. New Comer

Around eight in the morning the weary blonde ninja entered the city. He was accustomed to the stares he was getting, the only difference was that, here, they weren't afraid of him. A few even nodded and smiled at him. It felt odd when he smiled back.

Naruto hadn't realized how much he had missed this. He felt a little bit more whole inside every time someone acknowledged him. His smiles weren't counterfeit, they were real.

He wondered if these people knew what he was, would they still greet him?

Whatever. It still felt good.

Occasionally someone would notice his headband tied around his leg. The leaf design, signifying that he was from Konohagakure, would spark people to whisper to their friends, evoking stares.

He walked through the sandy town slowly, and in no hurry; he had made it on time.

Naruto began seeing native ninjas bearing the hourglass headbands. As they became more and more frequent, he realized they were there for a reason. They were an entourage.

Civilians started clearing the street, standing to the side and holding on to young ones. Two ninjas walked directly in front of a figure that Naruto couldn't make out, but he still knew who it was.

The two guards moved to the side as they drew closer. They stopped. So did Naruto

Gaara.

"Naruto." The tall red haired young man lifted what skin was his eyebrows in mock surprise.

Naruto stood still, blank; as did Gaara.

He was taller than Naruto recalled, they were about the same height. Gaara also was not as brawny as Naruto, but he also had no need to be muscular. The sand was what he practiced. His dark red hair was slightly longer than the way he had kept it when Naruto had known him better. It was tussled slightly by the constant breeze.

"I was expecting a ninja from the leaf," His deep, and slow way of speaking was familiar though, "I was not expecting you."

"I apologize if I am not the ninja you wanted, but I am here to help you in whichever way you see fit, by order of the Hokage, sir." There was no emotion in Naruto's voice, it was the voice of a soldier. The 'sir' seemed odd to Gaara, it was too uniform.

Again Gaara was surprised by Naruto, "No," he said carefully, "I am not disappointed, just surprised that they would send anbu to aid this country in such a... menial task." He looked away, and then back into Naruto's distant eyes.

"Naruto are you alright?"

"I am fine, Kazekage."

"Good..." He didn't sound entirely convinced, "I will take you to my office..."

"Yes, sir."

It was beginning to anger Gaara how Naruto addressed him as 'sir'. He was acting strangely, and it bothered the red head. This wasn't the Naruto he remembered.

He had been astounded and a little excited when he learned that the ninja was Naruto. He had not seen his friend in quite a few years and was anxious to hear his happy care-free voice.

But Naruto was not happy nor care-free. He was...

Empty.

They said nothing as they walked to their destination. When they arrived the two boys were followed by the two bodyguards up two flights of rickety stairs. When the came to an unlabeled, plain brown door, Gaara turned the handle and it creaked open.

It reminded Naruto of his home, but he said nothing.

"Go."

Naruto thought the command was directed at him and began to question Gaara, his mouth had just opened when the guards walked away.

"Not you..." Gaara confirmed.

They stepped through the threshold of the office. Everything was fastidious. No stray papers, everything, everything, was organized.

"I am going to assign you as a tactician," Gaara had taken his place at his desk, "You will work with other ninjas of your status to place and control soldiers within the Sound nation."

Naruto said nothing.

"But..." Gaara said impatiently, "I am assuming you already knew that."

"Sir?"

"I am asking again," He glared at Naruto, "is there anything upsetting you?"

"No."

"Fine." Gaara was on the verge of pissed. The sand began to move. What kind of lobotomy had Naruto been administered?

Gaara would find out.

And Naruto was going to tell him. 


	6. Mission Failed?

Who ever had been tracking Naruto had stopped upon his arrival to the village. He had been careless in the woods. He was such a wreck that he had concluded if his stalker wanted to kill him, he would show himself, and Naruto would deal with it from there.

He had been extremely careless when he fell. By passing out he had left himself vulnerable to any attackers. But honestly, at the time, Naruto wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway, having a broken leg.

Naruto was extremely grateful that whoever it was had spared him. The stranger knew not to kick a man when he was down. Thank God.

After the days of his journey Naruto had clearly lost the presence of his tracker.

He wasn't quite sure what that meant.

Naruto had been given a makeshift hotel room, that vaguely resembled his own home. It wasn't very commodious, but he had no trouble fitting in to the bare room.

He also took no time getting to know those who would be working with him as well as under him. The other main tactician was Kankuro, so Naruto felt at ease while working.

Kankuro was also ranked as anbu. They got along well. Naruto had slipped back into some of his old mannerisms. Laughing. Telling jokes.

There plan had been drawn out over two or three days. Their sources told them that there was a small party of Sound Ninjas just outside the Sand border.

The mission; delete them.

The most efficient way to do so was to get as close as they could without disrupting their activities, monitor them until they discovered their spies, then kill them.

They would be leaving promptly, and the Kazekage would be accompanying them. And his reasoning had nothing to do with the mission.

Naruto wondered since he was going to be back on the road, that his stalker was going to snap to it and start tracking him again. He really hoped not. It had been eerie having someone watching his every move, whether he was evil or not.

His bags were already packed and he was at the city gates early. But not the earliest.

Gaara was there.  
Just as Naruto had expected, Gaara hadn't really warmed to the new way Naruto behaved. He was very inquisitive as to the reasoning.

"Hey Gaara."

"Naruto." He nodded.

The silence was uncomfortable. Why were the other members of the crew taking so long?

"Homesick?"

"Excuse me?" Naruto had been lost in thought.

"Are you homesick?" Gaara repeated blandly.

"Not particularly." Actually he wasn't at all. He was glad to be away from that town and all the people in it. His lonely apartment.

He pulled a package out of his pocket and shucked out a cigarette. He took out his lighter and lit it. He let it start and then he inhaled.

Gaara stood looking at the cigarette. His eyes narrowed.

Naruto felt sand brush his face. He closed his eyes to avoid it, only to open them to see his cigarette had gone out.

And it wasn't natural wind that did it.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, then glared at his companion.

"It's unhealthy."

"It's none of your business." Naruto told him calmly.

He re-lit the cigarette.

Gaara's face took on an expression of concern.

Kankuro arrived along with their team. There weren't many, around eight including Gaara, Kankuro and Naruto. 

"Let's go." Kankuro told everyone, "Split up into your assigned groups and head out."

Naruto now regretted that Kankuro told Gaara he should come with them. Great.

After a days worth of travel and two days into the stake-out, Naruto was beginning to miss being ignored. Not only was Gaara constantly, inconspicuously asking if he was okay. Which wasn't as inconspicuous as Gaara would have hoped, seeing as Naruto knew exactly what he was doing, but also Kankuro had picked up on how introverted Naruto was.

And Kankuro was a little more blunt about it.

"Dude, why the hell are you so quiet?" He inquired politely one day.

"I just don't have that much to say"  
"Uh-huh," Not convinced, "Naruto that is total bull."

"I know." But Naruto didn't really feel like bearing his personal anguish with Kankuro, so he just responded with short explanations that maybe would satisfy him.

"Whatever." Kankuro threw in the towel for the day. He had lost interest and would try again tomorrow.

Naruto went back to eating his meek dinner he was provided that night. The campfire was bright. It was warm, but it was a risk. They were still far enough away from the Sound ninjas, but still.

It was his turn on watch.

He had volunteered for the whole night. They had tried to convince Naruto to divvy it up between them, but he insisted that it be him.

He wouldn't have slept anyway.

His follower was back.

This time around Naruto had not been able to sense whoever it was, but they had at one point close enough, and surprisingly, careless enough to briefly show themselves.

All it was though, was a rustled bush about thirty feet away from the party. But it was enough to put Naruto on edge.

The embers of the fire glowed bright in comparison to the pitch black night.

Naruto reached his hands closer to the heat.

At that moment, Naruto did several things within seconds.

His eyes widened and scanned everything.

Both hands quickly withdrew from the warmth , one going to his sock pulling out a kunai, the other to his belt to retrieve his short sword.

He stood and darted to the first branch of the nearest tree. He needed to be in a safe place to asses his position.

The ninja again scanned his surroundings.

It was close.

Very close.

He just needed to determine where the enemy was.

"Wrong tree Naruto."

That startled him. He had enough time to swing the knife at the voice behind him before he lost consciousness. 


	7. Bored

It was a overcast morning, clouds, dark ones, littered the entire sky. The ominous gray cover had yielded little moisture, nothing more than a slight drizzle. Just enough rain to dampen Sasuke's jet black hair. It kept Sasuke, who had been sitting on a fallen, rotted log, from lighting a small fire. It was of no importance, though. All he would have used it for was warmth, or to heat a cup of water, things that he concluded he did not need. But it was cold. Not in a frigid winter way. More of a chilly way. Sasuke was bored. Bored enough to try to start a fire anyway. 

He stood. The ground was soft, his feet left prints into the green grass as he walked off in search of dry twigs.

After about ten minutes, he returned to the 'camp' his efforts had been somewhat fruitful. Sasuke had, at best, a handful of small sticks. On the way to the fire pit, he stepped over a clumpy figure covered by a now wet blanket. Sasuke intentionally let his foot drag when taking the step, kicking the figure. It had made no response when he looked back at the silent mass.

"tch." Sasuke grunted snidely. A vicious smirk on his handsome, pale face.

He tossed the sticks down into the charcoal. Then placed a few previously collected logs on top. After several, futile attempts at striking a wet match, he created the flame with his trademark 'jutsu'. That worked well.

After warming his chilled hands for a minute or so, he again became restless. He needed to move around or _something_. Sasuke's hands continually flexed, constant twitching of his long slender fingers. He turned his head to look at the incapacitated baggage that Sasuke had been carrying all that previous night. And it hadn't been easy.

Naruto was a lot _bigger_ than Sasuke had remembered. Also very muscular. And everyone knew that muscle weighs more than fat. Naruto had a LOT of muscle apparently. Sasuke was tired, but he wouldn't sleep. He needed Naruto to wake up. At this point he really wanted Naruto to wake up. It was taking forever. And Sasuke was bored.

He had hesitated on just shaking Naruto to wakefulness, but he figured that would make him seem foolish, because it had been him who had made sure that Naruto wouldn't wake up for a while. Sasuke had hit him (in the head) with a force that would have killed a normal person. Needless to say that when Naruto did wake up, eventually, he would have a bitch of a headache. If Sasuke had wanted Naruto to wake up sooner, he wouldn't have hit with such power, but he went all out, just in case. Sasuke didn't know for sure how strong Naruto actually was, but he figured that he was. Though the slip up in the woods a week or so ago hadn't really enforced Sasuke's opinion. The one thing he did conclude was that Naruto was indeed still stupid.

So Sasuke told himself that no matter how much he wanted to go punch Naruto to wakefulness, he could at least have the decency to wait patiently for him to wake up on his own.

But it was so boring.

Sasuke's inability to wait drove him to his feet and to trudge over to Naruto's unconscious body. He knelt down and pulled the heavy black blanket away from his face. Sasuke stared at Naruto's face. It was vaguely familiar, but there were many discrepancies between immature thirteen year old Naruto and this one. The face was less baby like and more concerned. There were shadows of wrinkles around the crease between his eyebrows and also slight indents of crows feet. Sasuke wondered what could worry such a carefree soul to this extent. Naruto looked worn.

Sasuke reached his hand to Naruto's head, barely skimming his hair with his fingers. The blonde was just as bright as it had ever been, with naturally orange highlights. Sasuke thought that such obnoxious hair would be a disadvantage in a ninja's profession, it would easily give him away if seen. And seeing as it drew the eye immediately, it would constantly give away his position. Sasuke was thankful for his black hair.

Sasuke's hand slowly moved to Naruto's face, brushing his cheek with the tips of his fingers. Sasuke had an expression of enthrallment on his face. A rare emotion for him. His eyes widened, his mouth slightly parted, eyebrows lifted, entertained. Sasuke placed his hand over the bloody crusted opening on the right side of Naruto's head. It had stopped bleeding. Things had gotten ugly after Sasuke slammed the rock into Naruto's face the previous night. It had bled for nearly an hour, almost profusely. It would give the sand ninjas a traceable lead. Sasuke did not want that. He at one point he wrapped a spare cloth around the blonde's head, stopping the blood flow effectively. It was now no more that a scab. The blood was dried all over Naruto's face. It looked gruesome.

Sasuke dabbed a part of the blanket into a nearby puddle and carefully wiped off the blood of the majority of Naruto's face. It looked less creepy now.

Satisfied for the time being Sasuke got up and turned back towards the log he had been sitting on earlier, making his way across the dewy grass, only stopping upon hearing a weak and broken call,

"Sasuke"

Okies.  
Howdy all. Headaches here. Thanks for being patient. Y'all know how the end of the school year gets. I was tired, but then I was like, "you know what would make me feel way better? Writing some fanfiction." so tada. I hope y'all enjoy the latest installment of this... thing. Thanks go to all my reviewers and Asagoro who as usual inspired me to at least make an attempt to... write.

Seven chapters... I am so ready to find a way to end this fic, so keep up.

By the way, if any of you have ever played Naruto on the game cube and know the hell that was Sasuke's stuttering "Fire style Jutsu" attack; that was all I was thinking about when I had him light the fire. Questions? Comments?  
much love h4e.


End file.
